Henrik Fisker is back — and he has a new $300,000 supercar to prove it

Henrik Fisker, one of the more complicated and
controversial figures in the auto industry, was a picture of
suave and calm the day before the reveal of his new Force 1
supercar at the Detroit Auto Show.

He's a far cry from the embattled Fisker I last saw at a party on
a rainy night in Los Angeles in 2011, when his company, Fisker
Automotive, was less than a year from bankruptcy.

A bit of grim cheerleader back then, Fisker was trying to
rally his troops and customers as Fisker Automotive struggled to
live up to its early promise.

But in Detroit this year, he was fully recovered.

"It feels great to be back," he said, surrounded by chassis of
old Fisker Karmas that have had the hybrid-electric motors
extracted and big 638-horsepower Corvette V8s dropped in,
courtesy of what used to be called VL Automotive, but that will
now be known as VLF Automotive.

'No mercy'

The V is for Gilbert Villarreal, a bespoke engineer
who operates out of Motown. The L is for Bob Lutz, a former
Marine aviator who was for decades, prior to his recent
retirement, the definitive car guy, with stints at Chrysler and
BMW before landing at GM as the company's product czar. The F, of
course, is for Fisker.

VLF Automotive was tucked away on the floor of the Cobo
Center, the sprawling downtown home of the Detroit Auto
Show. Villarreal's VM Destinos are sharing the modest space with
a car under a silvery sheet: the Force 1, which Fisker's former
employer, Aston Martin, claims is a ripoff of his designs for the
famed British marque.

Fisker was so baffled by the accusation that he field a
lawsuit against Aston Martin, claiming extortion. He flicks
through images of a car on his iPad, pointing out all the unique
elements, almost as if he's sketching. Old designers never die,
they just imagine new cars.

Fisker, however, is under no illusions about what VLF is up
against.

"In this industry, you have to have passion," he said.
"It's tough, there's no mercy. But I just love cars — I love to
bring a new car to market. And every time I do this, it gets a
little easier."

The
VLF Destino, a Corvette-engined version of the Fisker
Karma.Courtesy of VLF
Automotive

Comeback kid

Frankly, I had expected to meet a far more scarred and
haggard Fisker than I did. But the sleek Dane with a twinkle in
his eye, bounce in his step, and brand new supercar to show off
came off like a man with a fresh lease on life.

It helps that he occupies a unique place in the industry, one
shared only by the likes of Elon Musk. A new car company is
something more rare than a black swan. While we chatted, Fisker
was assaulted by well-wishers and fans. He's the living
embodiment of something that's nearly impossible to do in
the merciless car business.

He makes an ideal partner for Lutz, a forthright executive
who labored within the traditional industry but always came off
as the only person who really knew what car lovers truly
wanted.

Lutz was already a Fisker fan — "He tried to hire me a few
times," Fisker said — but for the VLF partnership to
be cemented, something special had to happen.

Or the "three right guys," as Fisker put it, just
needed to eat together at a Mexican restaurant and down a few
Margaritas.

"Society today is more open to new companies than it was 20
or 30 years ago," he said. "Young people are used to the idea
that new brands can be created."

Fisker is mobbed by the
press at the reveal of the Force 1.Matthew DeBord/Business Insider

In the case of VLF, that's something close to pure
automotive pleasure, at the two critical levels of brash design
and raw power.

Fisker is clearly proud of the innovations he introduced
with the Karma, a pricey plug-in hybrid that was Tesla's main
competition when both carmakers hit the scene – the
Karma, in fact, got there first.

But Fisker thinks that we may be suffering from something
of an electric-car hangover. "We were overly optimistic about
market penetration. But we're not all going to be driving EVs in
5 years. There will be a mix."

And now he's definitely moved on to embrace that
future.

The Force 1 is his new baby, an American supercar who's
only real rival, given the anticipated $300,00o price tag, is
Ford's GT, a $400,000 roadgoing version of a Le Mans race
car.

"We wanted to make it extreme," he said. "There were no
committees. We wanted to do what we love and do what we think is
right."

Fisker may say that "he loves the sound of a gas engine,"
but VLF isn't all old-school car guy brandishing.
He outlines a decent business case.

"If you want to spend over $200,000, it's hard to find an
American car like this. You have to buy a foreign car. I just
find it strange that there isn't competition for the Europeans.
There is a niche for us."

Ultimate car guy Bob
Lutz.Matthew DeBord/Business
Insider

All-American

"America is more extreme and flamboyant," he said.

That view explains why Fisker sees the Force 1 joining the
ranks of the most American of American cars. He throws
around words like "high power" and "high torque" speaks
admiringly of "the size and volume" of the shapes that
characterize the "fee spirit" of the best American machines.

The day after Fisker and I sat down to chat, he and his partners
were pulling the cover off the Force 1, to a scrum of media
onlookers five deep. The car wasn't exactly a revelation: it's
basically a Dodge Viper with Fiskerized bodywork and a deeply
luxurious interior, featuring two slots for Champagne
bottles.

But it is a refreshingly arrogant, long-hooded beast, a rolling
catalog of aggressive car-designer riffs. This is the kind of car
that young, car-crazy kids draw in notebooks — and that will be
bought by older gentlemen of means who are attracted to
Corvettes, but who want something with a lot more panache to go
along with the stonking horsepower.

This all raises an obvious question: Has VLF built the last
of the dinosaurs?

Fisker doesn't think so. True, GM just rolled out a small
all-electric car at CES in Las Vegas, the Bolt, and Tesla will
bring a similar mass-market EV to the game in 2017, the Model 3.
Gas may be less than $2 a gallon is parts of the US and SUV may
be selling like crazy, but are we really ready to go back to
mythical American cars of the cheap-gas-forever age?

"The optimism in the industry helps right now," Fisker said.

And then he tips his hand, saying something that only a true car
guy would say.